Beautiful Misery
by Lunaandme
Summary: When an unexpected change takes place during Akazawa's final moments, how will the reprucussions of Kouichi's actions affect the calamity and the rest of the classmates of Yomiyama North? AU, (First Fanfic). I do not own another or any of its characters.
1. Prologue: Enter Misery

Fire, Death, Destruction, everywhere you looked all one could see were the aforementioned adjectives. Wood creaked and groaned, as the raging fire threatened to burn the only hindrance between itself and the outside world. Flashes of lightning and muted thunder were evident in the sky, symbolic of the horror taking place in the mansion atop the Yomiyama mountains. Cries of agony and despair could faintly be heard, calling for assistance that would never come, a savior, that would never arrive as the inferno silenced their cries forever, erasing everything in its sight.

However, one was undeterred through the fire, racing through the long hallways desperately looking for an answer to the solution. Flowing red hair in pig tails berated her face, making her wish her hair was shorter than it was as everything fell apart around her. She knew the person who instigated the problem, and took it upon herself to right that wrong before anymore innocent students lost their lives.

Running through the seemingly endless hallways, she heard a young man's scream of terror, and a sinister laugh as sounds of an apparent struggle seemed right around the corner. Steeling herself for the inevitable, she tightly gripped the piece of steel she found from a broken chandelier in her hands, and sprinted full speed to answer death's call.

"Tomohiko, why are you doing this?!", a distraught boy screamed as his fellow classmate stood before him, with a knife at the ready to send the dead back to death.

"Don't you see, I figured it out when Teshigawara pushed me off the cliff, send the dead back to death, it's the only way to stop the curse", said the deranged boy in glasses as he prepared to deliver the final blow and end the calamity.

"Please Kazami, come to your senses, I'm not dead, you're killing innocent people and you're about to kill me!"

"Shut up!" Yelled the boy long gone as he raised the butcher knife, his tool of destruction in the air ready to spill the brown haired boy's blood across the similarly colored carpet.

Hearing the struggle approach its climax, the girl doubled her pace, and arrived at the doorway of a room just in time to witness her friend, her calculating ally, raise a knife against a helpless classmate. "SEND THE DEAD BACK TO DEA-"

CLAANNG!

The sickening crack of the steel pipe against the skull of one Tomohiko Kazami rang throughout the hallways, echoing off the long corridors. The now useless body dropped the weapon, slumping back against the wall as skull was shattered and blood ran free down the ruined head. Pure, unadulterated fury could be seen behind those amber orbs, the fire in the background accentuating her appearance as an angel of death.

"How far you've fallen, friend. Everyone's desperate, but you've killed two students, what does that say about you, hmm?"

The timid boy slightly behind was rendered speechless, as he watched his friend bleed out against the wall, realizing it would have been him if not for his convenient savior stepping in.

"I don't think you deserve to live anymore, so I think I'll end your suffering, you can keep Yukari company in the afterlife." The girl raised her left hand, the bloody steel bar ravenous for a piece of Kazami's flesh, before an unknown force prevented that bringer of death from coming down.

"What are you doing here old man?" The girl questioned as the instructor looked upon the scene in anguish and remorse. "Trying to preserve what little life I can," the teacher answered as his unwavering grip on the girl's left hand persisted.

"What right do you have huh, you abandoned us, left us all to die like the rat you are, yet you dare lecture me on killing a classmate, my own friend!" Furious, the girl tried wrenching her hand away, but was frustratingly halted once again as the old man, with technique suprising of his age, wrestled the piece of steel out of the girl's hands, spinning her safely out of the room and into the hallway.

The girl had no counter, knowing she was beaten, and rushed off down the hallways once again trying to end this hellish nightmare that had befallen the students of Yomiyama North.

"Are you alright?" the teacher asked the boy, still reeling on the floor from his near death experinece.

"Yes, I think I'll be okay."

A slight smile graced itself upon the old man's features despite himself, "Well that's good to hear, at least one student doesn't have to die today." Taking another glance at the body of his friend turned enemy, the boy asked his sensei if there was any hope for Kazami, since he was simply desperate, acting on an uncontrollable fear that drove him to insanity.

The teacher stole one glance at the body on the floor, and knew it was over. Giving a subtle shake of the head, the boy knew it was fruitless, as blood continued flowing out of the lifeless boy's head.

"I understand, Tatsuji sensei, I just wish things could have gone differently."

"As do I, as do I," Mr. Chibiki said as they both watched the boy's life fade away in front of their eyes, helpless to stop death as it gleefully took Tomohiko from reality and into eternal silence.

"Will this ever stop, is there hope for us Tatsuji sensei?" The boy looked upon his teacher's ragged face, evidence of the miserable life he and all other staff at Yomiyama Middle endured as they lived through the calamity again and again.

"I don't know Sakakibara, I don't know."

The roaring blaze of the inferno was raging stronger than ever, but seemed as a whisper to the grieving teacher and student, who knew the loss of life and depravity of it all would haunt them forever.

"Regardless, you'd better go after that girl, I know she's just trying to help, but she's mentally unstable right now and might do more harm than good."

The student known as Kouichi Sakakibara stood, dusting himself off and preparing to lend his own hand in ending the calamity. "I promise, with every breath in my body, I'll try to fix this," Kouichi said with a fire in his brown irises that had not been present several moments ago. Giving one last nod to his sensei, he dashed out of the room, racing after the girl who had just saved his life not five minutes earlier.

"I'm coming, don't worry, just you wait, I'm coming, Akazawa."

Looking down in grief, Tatsuji tried one last time to rouse the student known as Tomohiko Kazami, hoping against all hope that death had not taken its claim upon the poor boy's soul. Kazami would give no response, as the last remaining pulses of his heart flickered out against the raging flames, lightning and thunder outside amplifying death's presence around the mansion beneath the Yomiyama shrine that cold, horrid night.


	2. Update-Apology

Dear readers,

Hey guys, I just wanted to let any readers know that I am very sorry that I haven't posted in a couple of months, life has been kind of crazy. Getting ready for college sucks, and the trig class I just started isn't a breeze either, it also doesn't help that I'm moderately lazy and a horrible procrastinator... ANYWAY! I just wanted to let any readers know that I have not given up on this fanfic, and I will start uploading more chapters shortly after the posting of this update. I can't give you an exact date, but expect new chapters to start flowing in about a week, definitely no later than two weeks from now at the absolute most. To anyone who has faithfully hung on to this weak first fanfic of mine, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, the support means more than you'll ever know. For those who have given up on this story, quite frankly, I don't blame you, I probably would have too if I was a reader waiting months for a single chapter to update. Regardless, Beautiful Misery is NOT OVER, NOT OVER I SAY! I just hope that you all can forgive my incompetence, and again, I am truly sorry for making any interested readers wait this long.

Sincerely, your pathetic yet somewhat loyal author.


	3. Chapter 1: Is it real?

The rain pouring down from the moonlit sky perfectly complimented the atmosphere atop the Yomiyama Mountains, as if the heavens themselves were weeping.

This could not hold anymore true than for Teshigawara, as he openly wept in front of his comatose classmates, all signs of pride and vigor removed from his despairing face.

"Kazami, please, you were my best friend..." The pleading look in Teshigawara's eyes was pitiable, how a once happy, youthful man could be reduced to a sobbing pitiful wreck was evidence of the calamity wrought upon class three...

"Damn it, I've known you for years, if I'd have just been stronger, maybe... maybe I could've saved you, done something. Just standing here, helpless, I just..."

"It's over, Teshigawara, there's nothing we can do", said Tatsuji, a faraway look in his eyes as he stared into the burning mansion.

"WHY SENSEI!"

"He was my friend, why would Kazami do this, he had a reason or something, he must have, right?"

Tatsuji looked upon the boy with regret, regret for abandoning these students to face the calamity alone. For all their bravado, they were still just a couple scared teenagers looking for a way out, Kazami thought he'd found the way, but the reality was, there was never a way out. No one truly wins, there are no victors through the calamity, the dead stay dead and the living are scarred for life, young children walking through hell on Earth.

"I certainly hope you know what you're doing, Sakakibara, you're the only capable one left."

Naoya's wails resounded throughout the mountains once more, lost in anguish for the friend he may have inadvertently destroyed, while the rest of the students sat in a paralyzed manner, not knowing what to think anymore.

Painful, that was the best word to describe Kouichi's experience. What would normally be a casual stroll through the mansion's large corridors was now extremely dangerous. The smoke was so thick from the fire that eyesight was negligible at best, never mind the searing pain in the boy's lungs from said smoke. The fires were raging louder than ever, threatening to engulf some unfortunate student if just a single slip should occur, a student like Sakakibara.

Nevertheless, Kouichi was determined, and that determination was carrying him through the sulfuric atmosphere inside the halls of death itself. A fire much hotter than the inferno outside was burning in Kouichi's eyes, and he would not stop until the calamity was over once and for all.

Kouichi looked upon his surroundings, standing on the upper floor, he could gaze at the destruction below as the fire lapped up anything in reach.

"This smoke is intense, it feels like my lungs are on fire... Regardless, I need to find Misaki before it's too late, she knows who the dead person is, and I've got to trust her judgement."

There were two doors on his sides, but both were blocked with what was likely several tons of collapsed wood, obviously on fire. "I could turn around, but that would be backtracking, and I don't want to waste time, especially with things the way they are now." As if on cue, a bolt of lightning struck outside, right next to the stained-glass window next to Kouichi, an ominous signal that time was indeed running out. "Everybody should be outside with Tatsuji sensei, so I don't think I have to worry about being ambushed, but still, I've been wrong before, and you can never be too safe..."

Weighing his options, Kouichi decided to press forward, looping around through an entrance to his left that would take him around the entire circumference of the upper floor.

"Misaki, Misaki, where are you, can you hear me, Misaki!"

Kouichi's shouting reverberated around the walls, seeming to travel the entirety of the mansion.

"But still nothing, can she really not hear me? No, she heard that, I'm sure of it, she had to have heard that. Hm, she's always been the quiet type, maybe I just can't hear her, or maybe, she's in trouble..."

Kouichi could feel his heart beat faster in his chest as thoughts of a mutilated Misaki flashed through his mind.

"No, that can't be, I'm just being paranoid, I have to focus, concentrate on what's important."

Making his way around the upper floor, Kouichi began to wonder how this all started, and what kind of force was responsible for such a travesty.

Was it paranormal, "that would seem to be the case, wouldn't it?" Kouichi thought aloud, reflecting on the memories of his life before Yomiyama middle, before the calamity, before the death of his classmates, the death of his mother...

"Is this even real, I mean, how can this be happening, I'm a fifteen year old kid for God's sakes!" Kouichi exclaimed, frustrated at the universe's seemingly cruel joke on the students of Yomiyama North. If he died, would he even be remembered, would his body be found? These questions Kouichi knew were pointless, but felt like indulging in for simplicities sake. Kouichi also wondered how his father would react, or how Mikami would be obviously heartbroken, attending the funeral of her nephew.

"What even is this, is this really it, are we all really going to die?"

Kouichi would have thought more on the subject, until he suddenly found his face implanted in the carpet.

His internal rambling distracted him, making him miss the jarring piece of wood he had just tripped over. "Tch, even the house is trying to kill me, what's next, the weather?"

Picking himself back up, Kouichi continued down the corrider, hoping for some sort of beacon or signal to show him what needed to be done. Continuing around the loop, a sick feeling suddenly spread throughout Kouichi's being, a sense of dread filling his body and making him halt.

"What is this feeling, why do I feel so, afraid?"

Turning around, he came face to face with a huge door, easily twice his size.

"Was that there before, how could I have missed that?"

Kouichi slowly trudged over to the floor, his feet heavy and body sore. He almost didn't want to open the door, a strong sense of foreboding preventing his hand from grasping the door for whatever reason.

"What's wrong with me, it's just a door, am I really so paranoid?"

Cursing his own weakness, Kouichi lurched forward once again, his body now inches away from the huge door, it's presence intimidating, as if daring him to enter.

Trembling slightly, Kouichi's hand grasped the shimmering door knob, his conscious screaming inside, begging him to stop, as his loose grip became firm.

Whatever was behind the door, Kouichi knew he wouldn't like it, but if he didn't act quickly, everyone could die, so it's not like he had much of a choice.

Steeling his nerves, Kouichi threw the door open, seeing only smoke and flames

"Well, this isn't so bad, I don't see why I was so nervous." Kouichi almost felt like laughing, despite the horrid conditions present at the moment, it seemed as though he had worked himself up over nothing.

As his eyes adjusted to the smoke, he gazed ahead, thinking he saw something in the smoke. Assured it was nothing, he took a step forward, then two, and three as the smoke cleared around him.

His heart stopped.

Kouichi's heart literally stopped beating for a few seconds as his mind tried to register what he was seeing. Never in his entire life had he felt such a fear, as the sick feeling multiplied exponentially into a maelstrom of confusion and despair in his head, threatening to break his young mind.

Why, why would this happen, how, what the fuck, I mean, it was just a joke right?

Kouichi stood in place, stupified at the horror before him, as he now wished he had never seen the door and just continued on his way.

There in front of him, was Misaki Mei, and across from her, a monstrous looking thing, something hardly recognizable to his eyes.

Steel pipe in hand, with a look betraying killing intent, Kouichi felt totally and utterly helpless for the first time in his life, the abominable feeling in his stomach about to explode out of him. Kouichi could only mutter one word as he stared into destruction, into calamity itself.

"Akazawa..."


	4. Chapter 2: Finally they meet!

_Hey guys, so this chapter should be pretty good, we finally get to the first big fight of the story, so that should be fun. I won't spoil anything, but definitely be ready for things to pick up in this chapter, trust me, it gets real. I'm almost done with the introduction of this story, so stay tuned for future posts because they should be coming in quite a bit faster. Enjoy the read! Also, I do not own Another or any of its characters, even though I wish I did!_

* * *

The thunder outside crackled with the energy of a thousand bombs as the lightning outside heightened in intensity, bathing the night in its fiery cerulean glow. Almost as if the calamity itself were controlling the weather, everyone outside the mansion could sense that something was wrong as an eerie feeling swept throughout the entirety of class three.

"I don't know what's going on, but it doesn't feel good, it's almost like a nightmare." Teshigawara said as he sat still, the anguished look on his face a reminder of the death of his best friend not ten minutes ago. One of the remaining girls, Sayuri, sat comotose as she contemplated her actions over the past few hours.

"I tried to kill her, you know, Mei Misaki, I actually tried to kill a person." Sayuri mumbled quietly, her words having no effect on the traumatized remnant of her class. "Didn't you hear me, I tried to kill her, I tried to kill a person! Does that make me evil, does that mean I should die also!" Sayuri exclaimed as she broke down, weeping in earnest as she remembered the look of betrayal on Kouichi's face when she shakily held the knife up to Mei's head. Of course Mei herself looked fine, but Sayuri knew in her heart that her actions had hurt the stone-faced girl. After all, everyone had feelings, and Sayuri knew that Mei was probably just to shocked to respond when nearly her entire class turned on her. Even the thought that she could have killed such an innocent looking face made her heart hurt all the more, plunging her down into deeper levels of despair.

Tatsuji looked over at the poor girl, and remembered that she was one of the best students in the school, the stereotypical quiet, shy school girl who studied hard and achieved perfect scores.

"No," Tatsuji spoke quietly.

"Wh-What, what d-did you say sensei?" Sayuri strained as her face was soaked in tears, looking pitiful all sprawled on the ground in the fetal position, having regressed to the mentality of a mere child.

"Not evil, you're not evil Sayuri." Tatsuji spoke with a resouding echo in his voice, the power in his words almost physically manifesting in the wind that breezed around him.

"Y-Yes I am, I t-tried to kill an actual person to survive, w-what kind of monster does that make me!" Sayuri's wails increased, clearly disturbing her other classmates as they shuffled or twitched uncomfortably in their positions on the ground.

"I'm a horrible person a-and I deserve to die just like e-everyone else, there's no hope for me don't you get it! W-We're all going to die and I'm gonna go first because I d-deserve it the most!"

Teshigawara stood up.

"I s-should just die right now, the calamity should just take me s-so I won't have to live with myself for all of these th-."

The slap delivered to her face was powerful, the echo of the smack reverberating across the forest.

Sayuri looked stunned as her cheek continued stinging as if it were on fire. Gazing upward, Sayuri's scared eyes met with very fierce ones as a pissed off Teshigawara stared her down.

"Shut up, just shut up already!" Teshigawara screamed as he felt his rage overtake him, "You think you're the only one who's lost something, who's lost someone! You don't know anything damn it, you freaking act like you've got it rough when you're sitting here all fine. What about everyone inside, what about the people who didn't make it huh! You think they didn't suffer more than you, you're fucking spotless, so stop crying!"

Sayuri stumbled over her words as she didn't know what to say.

"You made a mistake, get over it! Just 'cause you're a fucking straight-A student doesn't mean you're perfect, you were scared and made an irrational decision. It's called being human, and you're no different from the rest of us, so get over yourself and move on. At least you're friends are alive, my best friend died, he d-d-died in my fucking arms because I wasn't strong enough to protect him, and my only other friend might be dead in that hell house for all we know, and that's my fault to because I let myself get hurt running away from that crazy hotel lady like a coward."

Sayuri's eyes seemed to glisten with something other than defeat as she listened to Teshigawara's rant, he himself choking up at his words coming from deep within his pained heart.

"T-The only thing I can do now is move on, that's the only thing any of us can do is survive, we've got to survive for them. If I die here than it would be like everybody that's lost their lives would have lost them for nothing, so the least a coward like me could do is hang on through this thing and bear the others' suffering. If I live through this than I can remind myself that my life was saved at the cost of theirs, and can pass this story on to others to keep everyone's legacy going. So yeah, I'm not gonna freaking die, I'm committed to living at this point, for all the people that have lost their lives to this damn curse. I don't know about you, but what would be truly selfish is giving up now, and dropping everyone's lives like they were nothing. You made a mistake, that's forgivable, and doesn't make you a horrible person, trust me, I'm worse than you. But, giving up before you even try, that's something I can never forgive, and something you shouldn't take either, you've gotta be better than that if you wanna make it. So make up your mind, do you wanna wuss out and really be weak like you're saying, or man up and live through this, 'cause mistakes can be fixed, but killing yourself can never be undone."

Another roar of thunder boomed in the sky, a series of crackling lightning chains accompanying it as if the weather itself was bolstering Teshigawara's fierce monologue.

A single tear made it's way down Teshigawara's face as his emotions reached their zenith, all the rage in him dying out as his message had been delivered. He had spoken what needed to be said and now had nothing left in him to give, he was done.

Everyone else was now staring in shock at the conclusion of Teshigawara's speech, no one expecting that a jock like Naoya could have said something so profound. Tatsuji especially looked pleased as he gazed upon his student with pride and admiration from a distance.

"Maybe there's some hope left after all, if an idiot like him can keep us going." Tatsuji silently spoke as he listened to his students mutter amongst themselves.

Sayuri, being absolutely flabbergasted herself, now saw her previous demeanor as pathetic, instantly regretting her actions. Through the actions of a school idiot, she had come to the realization that her life was not her own, but rather everyone's around her. She now had something to fight for, and would not be done in so easily.

Having regained a sense of courage she stood up, looked Naoya in the eye, and said, "T-Thanks, I really needed that."

Teshigawara's face brightened as he saw a smile grace itself upon Sayuri's features. "No problem, sometimes an idiot like me's gotta put the smart kids in their place."

"Well, I guess the intelligent ones can't have all the fun, we do need our idiots every now and then." Sayuri spoke with kindness as she thanked Naoya for bringing her back from the brink of despair, laughing at his smiling face.

Everyone let out a few chuckles along with her, chuckles which would soon turn into full-blown laughter as everyone in class three laughed at the stupid grin Naoya was wearing. Against all the odds, it seemed as though hope wasn't lost yet, as class three's humanity was retained throughout the past few months of death and pain.

Teshigawara himself couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else, finding it impossible to remain angry as everyone's infectious laughter tickled his heartstrings. The stupid grin on his face widened even more as he realized that there might truly be a light at the end of the tunnel.

The weather unfortunately, didn't share this sentiment as another flash of lightning, followed by a jolt of thunder, brought everyone out of their previous state of mirth.

Teshigawara's grin faded, as he remembered that Kouichi, Mei, and Akazawa were still in the building. "Yeah, I hope those last three can get out, it's not looking good outside and I'm sure it's not much better in there." Teshigawara spoke with uncertainty in his voice, looking at the raging inferno that was once a mansion at the peak of Yomiyama mountain.

Everyone turned along with him to gaze upon the burning remnants of a mansion once beautiful, as the resounding thunder boomed across the night.

* * *

He simply didn't know how everything had gone wrong.

They all should have been on the same page, they had an understanding that Mei wasn't the one, and they all knew that. Despite the ravings of several desparate classmates, they knew that Mei wasn't the dead one, it simply wasn't possible. He knew it, Akazawa knew it, and Mei obviously knew it, since she herself possessed the eyes which let her know who the true extra was. They were a team, they were going to stick together, listen to Mei's input, and end the calamity, simple as that.

So why... Why was he seeing this? Where was the disconnect, what the hell had happened in the five minutes since he'd last seen them!

"W-What the hell are you doing, she's on our side remember?!"

Kouichi's shout briefly brought Akazawa's march to a halt, as she gave a glancing gesture toward him that let him know she acknowledged his presence.

However, she would not be deterred now, Mei was the extra, and she needed to die. She should have listened to her best friend, Takako, because it was obvious she knew the truth all along. Mei was nothing but a murderer who was trying to save her own skin, she was clearly the extra. Izumi might not have listened to Takako in the beginning, but she sure as hell was going to now. That whore killed her best friend, and nothing was going to stop her from administering the ultimate justice.

Mei herself hardly looked surprised, as she bravely stood her ground. The girl was well versed in the art of sorrow, and would not be intimidated by Izumi's predatory stance.

Kouichi didn't know what to think as each step forward brought Izumi closer to her target, the calm swaying of her blade like a metronome as it conformed itself perfectly to her soft hand. He knew she could be intense, but he never thought she would go this far. It was as if she had become a completely different person since the last time he saw her in the hallway with Tatsuji. Before she at least looked like she was filled with emotion, maybe a type of righteous judement perhaps? Now though, she looked completely calm, like a trained killer about to take a life. Kouichi had never seen anyone like this if he was honest with himself, and quite frankly, it scared the hell out of him.

Another crack of thunder and the difference between the girls was halved, then halved again, nothing but a few steps separating the two females from their inevitable clash. Somehow Kouichi knew this would be the final confrontation of the night, everything from the burning house to the crazy weather, the homicidal classmates to the out of control fatalities, this would be it.

Everything seemed to freeze as Izumi paused for a split second, just two steps away from finishing everything. The thunder stopped, lightning faded into the background as the clash between the two heroines was about to commence.

Then it happened.

Akazawa pounced at a blistering speed, hoping to catch Misaki off-guard and settle things quickly. Blade poised and ready to strike, she would be the hero who ended the calamity and avenged her friend. Misaki continued to remain in place, not moving an inch as Izumi prepared to take her life.

To her greatest chagrin however, Kouichi forcefully grabbed her hand in an attempt to delay the inevitable.

"No! She's not the extra Akazawa, stop and think about what you're doing!" Kouichi shouted as he desperately tried to wrench the blade from Izumi's lethal hand.

"Shut up! She killed Takako, I know she's the extra, I have to kill her!" Akazawa roared as she pushed forward, hoping to catch Mei while she wasn't moving.

"Listen to yourself! This isn't you, this isn't what the head of countermeasures I know would resort to!" Kouichi shouted in return, still grasping the blade in Akazawa's grip, not giving up on his efforts to take it away from the deranged girl.

Unfortunately, Kouichi wasn't exactly the strongest guy in the class, and Izumi herself was no weakling.

"If I kill her and you still remember, then I'll believe you!" Izumi screamed as she put her front left foot behind kouichi's own right leg, cutting off his balance before placing her free left hand behind Kouichi's head. This all happened in a matter of seconds, allowing her to slam Kouichi through the wooden rail on the top deck, instantly knocking him unconscious.

With him out of the way, she resumed the charge against Mei, tackling her to floor while raising the blade in the air, attempting to spear Misaki through the head.

_"If Akazawa kills me the calamity will never stop,"_ Mei thought as she dodged not one but two strikes from Izumi, the weapon getting stuck in the wood mere inches from Mei's face, having tilted her head to the right moments before the steel pierced her skull. Meanwhile, an enraged Akazawa tore the metal bar out of the wood, right as a sudden explosion collapsed the entire upper floor, bringing the deck crashing down to the surface floor below.

The two girls fell with the floor, remaining unharmed as Izumi rolled down the structure, moving away from Misaki since the other girl had managed to establish a firm grip with the railing on the way down.

Kouichi's unconscious body also was spared, smoothly touching the ground with seven tons of wood and carpet serving to break his fall.

Thinking this was her chance to get away without harming anyone, Mei stood and quickly walked away, trying to flee the scene before Akazawa woke up and continued the hunt.

Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough as Izumi rushed her once again, this time inflicting a small cut along Mei's once flawless face before taking her down a second time. Sitting on her lap she put the full weight of her body into keeping Mei down, her right leg and left arm pinning Misaki's own arms to the floor.

_"Is this it, will I die here?"_ Mei thought as Izumi roughly grabbed her face, shoving it against the carpet before raising her blade in the air, preparing to finish Mei off and finally end the calamity.

"It's over," Izumi said with pride, steadying the blade in her hand for what she hoped would be the final time, preparing to end her rival. "Now Di-"

Kouichi would not have it.

He tackled her to the ground, gaining a second wind as he held the snarling beast in his hands, preventing it from destroying not just his friend, but also the only way out of the calamity.

Izumi managed to stand up, trying to move forward. Alas, she was dealing with a serious Kouichi, and for all her rage could not overcome him. Continuing her pointless struggle for a few moments longer, she finally stopped, seemingly calming down and ceasing her tirade of madness.

Kouichi turned Izumi toward him, hoping that by forcing her to look at him she would calm down and think about what she was doing.

"You're wrong," Kouichi softly said, conveying in those two words volumes of emotion that could never be spoken aloud.

Izumi looked up at him and relaxed her shoulders, appearing to give up and assess what she was doing.

A smile started to break out on Kouichi's face, thinking it was over as the monster he was holding moments ago seemed to have regressed to a girl once again.

He had never been so wrong.

Akazawa sprung like lightning, kneeing Kouichi in the gut and smacking his face with the blunt side of the pipe before he even had a chance to counter. Falling down beside Mei, and with a look of furious resignation etched upon his face, it seemed that for all his efforts, the head of countermeasures would best him.

Internally however, Akazawa was not holding up nearly as well. Kouichi's consecutive attempts at stopping her were grating on her nerves in a way he couldn't even imagine.

Izumi wanted to scream, cry, and collapse all at once as she looked upon the pair she had defeated, her emotions kept suppressed for so long bubbling to the surface with Kouichi's recent betrayal. "Why! Why are you helping her! Can't you see I'm just trying to help, I'M JUST TRYING TO SAVE EVERYONE!" Izumi yelled, truly not understanding what she was doing wrong.

Kouichi and Mei alike were shocked, as they had never seen the head of countermeasures completely lose her composure. Normally so refined and prominent, she was looking like she had utterly lost it, ranting and raving in a broken stupor.

"Fine, if you have a death wish, than I'll just have to kill you along with her Kouichi Sakakibara!" Izumi stated as she held the blade in front of them, about to end both of their lives.

The thunder outside was growing in intensity, with frequent arcs of lightning streaking across the gigantic stained glass windows to their left.

Mei's mind was secretly racing, wondering if she would never be able to stop the calamity. _"I have to find a way out of this, should I fight her, would one death justify the lives of many?"_ Mei thought as Akazawa glared into her eyes.

Izumi herself was now a wreck on the inside. _"I have to kill them, I have to kill them, I HAVE TO KILL THEM!"_ She repeatedly told herself in her mind, shutting her feelings out and becoming a machine with a one track mind.

Kouichi noticed something different entirely.

_"Does that lightning look like its arcing closer to the windows?" _He thought as the cerulean streaks of plasma in the sky were indeed closing in on the mansion.

_"Doesn't glass break if it's struck by lightning?"_ He thought again as the plasma tendrils moved eerily close to the windows.

He almost saw it coming.

One strand of lightning shot down from the sky, moving thousands of times faster than a bullet as it struck the side of the mansion.

The glass instantly shattered, large shards preparing to rain down on the helpless head of countermeasures, putting a permanent end to her homicidal rampage.

Crashing, sounds of anguish, blood, definitely lots of blood.

Mei looked completely shocked, even scared as her uncovered eye took in the scene placed in front of her. Only at the death of her twin sister had her face shown such emotion, and no one would likely see such a look on her normally calm face ever again.

A body lie broken in the clearing, speared against the wall, effectively impaled against the wooden surface via dozens of broken glass shards.

Izumi woke up.

Looking straight ahead, she saw a tear-stricken Mei, something she never thought she'd see. Looking to her right, her face was soon similar.

Impaled against the wall was Kouichi Sakakibara, having moved in the nick of time to save the head of countermeasures.

* * *

_DUN DUN DUN! Looks like everything's officially gone to crap. I wonder if I surprised any of you, I kinda tried with the whole weather foreshadowing thing and the Alternate Universe tag in the description of the story. The introduction is almost over, so we're not even close to being finished. Also, now that summer's started I should be able to seriously ramp up the pace of the updates. Thanks for the reviews and comments, and remember, if you don't like how I wrote something then don't be afraid to critique me! A writer's best advice is from their readers so never be afraid to tell me where you think I'm wrong in the review section. Thanks a bunch for the reviews and support, it definitely inspires me to write more._ _ See you on the next update!_


	5. Sincere Apology

So...

I know some of you must be wandering why I haven't uploaded any new chapters over the past 18 months or so. For any fans who read my first work, Beautiful Misery, I truly regret to inform you that this story is dead. I AM SO SORRY! I know a lot of you commented that you liked this story, and I honestly feel like a scumbag for making you wait for so long and not saying anything. There's no excuses for the way I've treated you, and I want you all to know that the guilt over not submitting anything has been eating me up for awhile now. I've kept you waiting for a long time, and I know anyone who's been watching Beautiful Misery for updates must have given up by now. Regardless, at this point it would essentially be a sin to keep you in the dark any longer; I know you all want an explanation and a full explanation for my absence is what you'll get.

When I originally decided to write Beautiful Misery it was completely spontaneous. Yep, I hadn't planned out anything at all, I had just finished watching another and the story resonated within me such that I felt I had to express what I saw right away or my heart would explode. After I wrote the first chapter I realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing and almost gave up right away. However, your comments on my story and the encouragement you all gave me inspired me to keep going, even though I really didn't even have a rough draft of where I wanted the story to go. I took a break for a couple months to decide what I wanted to do with Beautiful Misery, and then I published chapter 2, which was almost the end of the 1st arc of the story I had planned out. Since this story is probably on permanent hiatus, I guess it's okay if I spoil the plot for you.

Basically what I had planned was for Kouichi to die instead of Izumi when the lightening struck the building and shattered the window. Izumi would get angry and try to kill Mei only for Mei to talk her down in a cascade of emotions. After that, they would both go kill Mikami-sensei and that would essentially end the main storyline of Another as we got it, but with Kouichi dying instead of Izumi. Where I really planned to develop the story was in the second arc where, surprise surprise, Kouichi would be the extra in class 3-3 the year after he died. I had a whole slew of O.C.'s planned out and everything to create the class for the next year where Kouichi would be the extra and the calamity would be rolling.

Meanwhile, I was going for an amnesia effect with Mei and Izumi in general, since everyone forgets who the extra was once the calamity is over. I always thought Mei shared some sort of connection with death with her eye and all, so I wanted to write her desperately not trying to forget what happened with Kouichi but slowly losing her memory anyway. In my story, Mei was going to transfer to another school somewhere in urban Japan, and try to essentially be the whistleblower for the whole calamity curse and try to warn everyone who would listen about the perils of class 3-3. Obviously she wouldn't just be able to come out and say there was a curse that was killing people for fear of being crazy, so my intention was for her to be researching the source of the calamity and its victims in order to gather enough evidence to convince the Japanese government to close down Yomiyama North Middle School. Her main struggle would be her memory loss, which would be a constant impediment to her goal of convincing the world that the calamity was a horror that needed to be stopped.

For Izumi, I was going to go with a more direct approach. I was going to have her attend Yomiyama North High School conveniently located a few miles away from the middle school where the calamity was ongoing (plot demands there be a high school XD). Anyway, she as well would be desperately trying to hold on to her memories, particularly of Kouichi, but would slowly forget him as time went on. I had planned for them to have some sort of drastic encounter while walking home from their respective schools, and that would set off the 3rd arc where Izumi would start getting her memories back and try to protect the students of Class 3-3 once again.

I was kind of going for the 'star-crossed lovers beyond time' kind of cliché with her feelings and memories of Kouichi. She would be using her using her deductive skills to try and find the extra while simultaneously regaining her memories of the past year. Ironically, I had planned for Kouichi to join her in the investigation as the head of countermeasures, despite the fact that he was the extra. As the story progressed, they would uncover various clues relating to the calamity, while falling in love all over again. I know it's somewhat pathetic for an 18 year-old male to have such feminine thoughts, but dammit I'm a romantic at heart and their ship was too good to sink:( It would take a while, but eventually she would figure out that Kouichi was the extra, and at that moment regain all of her memories regarding him and the past year. In a heartbreaking conclusion befitting of a romantic tragedy, Kouichi would realize he himself was the extra, and plead with Izumi to be the one to take his life. I'm not sure where this final confrontation would have taken place, but suffice to say Izumi would have been in agony having to kill the boy she truly loved after making it through the horrors of the calamity on the first go around. After killing Kouichi I had planned for Izumi to attempt suicide, only to be stopped by Mei with a major politician of Japanese government at her side (Don't ask me how she would have met her at the right place and time to stop the suicide, I never got that far). Anyway, the representative would believe Mei, contact a demolition team to destroy the school, and Yomiyama North, along with the calamity would be utterly destroyed. With Izumi and Mei watching the school's destruction to a sunset-finale like backdrop, I would end the story with two damaged survivors of the Yomiyama calamity grieving over the things they had lost.

PHEW! So now you guys know how the story would have gone. What's really embarrassing is I had actually written all the way through the end of the 2nd arc when I spilled a can of Mt. Dew on my laptop, frying the hard drive and all my data along with it... That happened about six months ago as of the time of this writing, or around the beginning of 2016. I was going to complete the work and then publish pieces of it as chapters every week like a TV series. I was thinking of publishing on Fridays every week, but obviously that didn't work out since I'm a freaking idiot who can't hold drinks properly!

Yeah... so I wanted to restart the series, believe me you guys I really did. But when you've written over _50,000 words_ for a story, words that you poured your heart and soul into, and it all just vanishes and you have to restart from scratch... Well you can guess by this update that I just didn't have it in me to ever start writing again.

That's the full, honest, and ugly truth as to why any fans of Beautiful Misery haven't gotten an update in almost 2 years. Once again, I'm truly sorry to have kept you waiting and I understand how much of a cheesedick I've been by not informing any of you of these developments sooner. For those of you who stuck by Beautiful Misery in the months it was on hiatus, I honestly can't believe how loyal you are, you should get some sort of medal. For those of you who abandoned ship a long time ago and want nothing to do with me or this story, that's also completely understandable given the circumstances.

But, there's always a but.

For those of you still interested in my kind of literature, I've decided to start writing again since I've seen some good anime and read a lot of fantastic manga in the time I've been out of commission. If any of you know about a series called 'My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU', I'm letting you know in advance that I'm writing at least a few short stories on it for sure. Hikigaya is honestly one of my favorite characters in fiction and his philosophies on the struggles of humanity are truly refreshing in this crazy world we live in today. You've got to give him an award for the most intellectual and dense male protagonist in the history of rom-coms; it's beyond hilarious the conflicts he finds himself in. I'd advise anyone, regardless of preference, to give this series a try. It's got drama, absurdities, intellectual stimulation, and Komachiness wrapped up in a wonderful package of incredible. Also I'm for sure going to do something with Madoka Magica. I don't know exactly what to write about yet, but that show was too amazing not to have me write about it. I also might write a drabble or two on KonoSuba. The series was adorable and I hear it's getting a second season, so there's all sorts of ways to explore that verse. Guilty Crown and Dragon Ball Super are also on the table for any action-oriented amongst you, and I might even do something with the Walking Dead. Yeah, if you couldn't tell by the name, there's definitely something in the works for MLP as well, so for any bronies out there, you have a place too.

You've probably had enough of my apologetic chatter by now, so I leave you with messages of sorrow and new hope. I really am sorry once again for failing everyone so spectacularly in Beautiful Misery. I know what it's like myself to be kept waiting on a fanfiction story that doesn't update, and knowing I put you through that makes my heart hurt. I promise there's content coming, and hope I didn't cause any of you too much pain.

Sincerely,

Lunaandme


End file.
